<p>I got offers from both the UW and GT for materials science grad school. My overall question is: how important is rank of a school vs. individual faculty? While I liked GT, I didn't connect well with any faculty, but on has emailed me asking for me to join his group. The work is not in the area of MSE I am actually interested in and I have not met him in person. At the UW, I surprisingly connected with a prof that I had no idea about before the visit day. He really is recruiting me hard for his group and has offered me a project in my area of interest (nano materials for energy). But UW is not ranked nearly as high as GT in the MSE field. Thus my dilemma - a school with a hight rank (#7ish) but no real good faculty prospects (but there are 55 faculty members at GT!) or a lesser ranked school with a prof I really connected with. Any suggestions or insight? Thanks!</p>
<p>What’s the reputation of the respective profs and their groups? Have you reviewed the publications of each prof? Where are they getting their funding? Does it matter to you where you’ll work after graduation?</p>
<p>Though GT may be ranked higher, both schools are well enough known national research universities. Your future employer will be much more interested to know the area of your research and the reputation of your research group than the ranking of the school. </p>
<p>I think going with a prof you connect with in your field of interest definitely trump the ranking.</p>